Friday’s Food for Thought: Hurricane Matthew

As Hurricane Matthew wreaks havoc on the Florida coast today—with some reports saying the worst of the Category 3 storm is yet to come—the GEOINT Community is preparing to assist in disaster response efforts. Earlier this week, the hurricane stormed through Haiti, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, killing more than 400 people, reportsBBC.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s GOES Geostationary Satellite Server snapped some satellite images of the hurricane, and the International Space Station also posted a time-lapse video of the storm from space.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency launched a public website to host unclassified geospatial intelligence data, products, and services for use in hurricane response efforts. The website provides a single location for consolidated tools and situational awareness to help visualize the extent of damage caused by Hurricane Matthew and provide ready-to-use information and products for emergency responders. The site is hosted by Amazon Web Services and uses Esri’s ArcGIS online platform.

The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is providing digital humanitarian efforts by offering geographic base data for areas affected by the hurricane. This week, DigitalGlobe employees joined HOT’s efforts by holding a “map-a-thon” across its Northern Virginia, Colorado, and Florida offices. HOT users can access the ongoing mapping efforts via the HOT Tasking Manager.